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Author: Long Yue, Wall Street News
A disagreement over regulatory enforcement has evolved into a head-on confrontation between the cryptocurrency community and personnel appointments of U.S. regulators.
On Wednesday, September 10, Brian Quintenz, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, nominated by U.S. President Trump, publicly accused Brian Quintenz, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, of publicly accused the Winklevoss brothers who intervened in his nomination confirmation process.
In the afternoon of the same day, Quintenz posted several tweets on social media X saying that the Winklevoss brothers had contacted Trump to demand a suspension of his CFTC nomination.He released a screenshot of his conversation with the brothers on the crypto messaging platform Signal in July this year as evidence of his allegations.
Tyler Winklevoss shared a complaint letter to Quintenz to the CFTC inspector general, blasting the agency’s law enforcement’s actions when prosecuting Gemini in 2022.When the Winklevoss brothers asked Quintenz to speak out on his allegations, the latter refused to make a clear statement.
“As far as I understand, after this conversation, they contacted the president and asked for a suspension of my confirmation process,” Quintenz wrote in a tweet. He said that while the Winklevoss brothers raised other reasons for concern to Trump, the president was “probably misled.”
During the conversation, Tyler Winklevoss expressed disappointment and surprise that Quintenz did not understand the relevant complaints, and expressed his willingness to raise this question directly to the president.
Quintenz was nominated for Trump as CFTC in February this year.The dispute stems from the CFTC’s law enforcement lawsuit against Gemini in 2022, accusing the exchange of false or misleading statements on matters related to Bitcoin futures contracts.The case ended in settlement and Gemini was fined $5 million.
The Winklevoss brothers have long expressed dissatisfaction with the fine.It is worth noting that Gemini plans to conduct an initial public offering on Thursday.
CFTC law enforcement department major blood change
According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, the CFTC has fired, demoted and forced several law enforcement personnel to leave in recent months, including several officials in charge of the Gemini case.
The top leaders reportedly laid off include Manal Sultan and Robert Howell, deputy director of law enforcement, as well as chief litigation lawyers Alejandra de Urioste and Brent Tomer, among others.The officials had dominated law enforcement cases against Gemini in 2022.
Some employees will officially leave their jobs in the next few weeks after receiving a 60-day dismissal notice in July, and some other employees have been transferred to non-law enforcement positions.
The CFTC responded that the layoffs were part of the restructuring effort, aiming to reduce unnecessary reporting levels and release staffing for new departments.But the agency did not comment on specific individuals or cases.
